60th Anniversary Celebration and Parade - watch live online now . . .

[roddy]

Nukes! And planes!

[gato]

The girls in pink mini-skirts aren't real soldiers (the pink might have given it away).

They are the so-called citizen's militia, a volunteer force specifically organized for the 60th Anniversary military review. See an article below about it. To qualify, you have to be between 1.63-1.75m tall and between 17-25 years of age.

http://news.qq.com/a/20081210/002337.htm

北京选拔女民兵参加国庆阅兵 80后报名踊跃

近期，朝阳区不少社区或是贴出了通知，或是在社区网里发了帖子，称将对有意参加阅兵女民兵方队的社区居民进行报名登记；报名条件为身高在1.63米至1.75米之间、年龄17岁至25岁的女性；通知书的落款为社区居委会。据悉，朝阳区武装部目前在亚运村、麦子店、朝外、高碑店等多个地区开展了女民兵的招收工作，被选拔出来的女民兵将从12月下旬开始接受训练。

某街道办事处武装部的工作人员表示，女民兵的选拔工作是从11月底正式展开的，选拔面向社区居民和辖区单位，街道将选拔10名身体健康、政治过硬的女民兵上报朝阳区武装部。目前街道办事处已经完成了招收工作，报名者以“80后”为主，既有社区的居民，也有辖区单位推荐来的优秀女员工，选拔工作正在进行当中。

[imron]

Heh, I wish youku would stream this well overseas for other programs.

[Guest realmayo]

ok, finding this a bit dull now. just seen JZM clapping (& Hu watching enviously), I think that's enough for me.

[roddy]

Fighters just come overhead here, presumably on their way home.

The girls in pink mini-skirts aren't real soldiers (the pink might have given it away).

Normally the mini-skirts would be the clue, but today . . .

[wushijiao]

Great to see Jiang up there with the other guys in the 政治局常委會。Hehe...

[roddy]

Is that warship going to come down the moat or something?

Ah, 群众游行？Going to be hard to compete with all the tanks.

[889]

The tone of all this seems to owe a lot more to Mao Zedong than Zhang Yimou.

Almost frighteningly so.

[gato]

So there is actually a "Long Live Mao Zedong Thought" (毛泽东思想万岁) float. I heard about it a few days and thought it was an exaggeration.

http://news.163.com/09/0929/10/5KCE79J6000120GR.html

新增方阵更名为“毛泽东思想”方阵(图)

2009-09-29 10:23:00　来源: 华商网-新文化报(吉林)

[imron]

Haha, token Laowai clapping.

[roddy]

I can't believe they've got a float of someone who's still alive and on the podium. Could they not just carry him down the road on their shoulders?

Ha ha, modest little clap for himself.

[Guest realmayo]

so the slogan for Hu is 科学发展 ... did anyone catch what it was for Jiang, and the other two for that matter?

[roddy]

Jiang's was probably 三个代表. If you click the Youku link earlier you can move back and forth to find the bit you want.

I'm glad China does stuff like this now and then - reminds me I'm not living in Kansas any more.

Edit: I think Zhang Yimou is involved with shows on the square later - not this parade. Although that would be good - you could start off with simple floats of peasant life, and build up to extravagant historical costume floats.

[gato]

Deng Xiaoping Thought, The Three Represents, and Scientific Outlook on Development each get its own float. I guess someone might have objected to not having a Mao Thought float represented, therefore the change.

[Madot]

What's with the girls in Flamenco costumes dancing around the lotus flower?

Mado

[imron]

Yeah, Jiang's was Three Represents.

[roddy]

That's praising China's high-tech flamenco technology and intensive lotus agriculture.

Seriously, I have no idea. I'm just staring at this shaking my head.

[blink]

This makes the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in the US look puny.

[blink]

CCTV 9 in beijing just switched from English to Chinese announcers and back... odd

[anonymoose]

At least we get to play on the net while watching this. I feel sorry for all those people having to hold the 社会主义好 signs up. Apart from those in the first row, they don't even get to see the parade going past.